Was Never Dead
by NotTheAverageDude
Summary: The greatly respected Jedi master, Mace Windu never died. Instead, he was saved, both mentally and physically. By who? Read to find out! Rated M for heavily sexual content (probably inappropriate content), alcoholic content, and violence/gore. F/M
1. Prologue

His body slammed onto the back of a ship, tumbling back off to fall. His eyes were closed as he tried to guide himself onto another with the Force. Only to be hit by one. He let out a gasp of pain and opened his eyes. He gripped the ledge of the side of a building with his remaining hand. He jumped up onto it, turning to lean on the railing. He collapsed to one knee, letting the effects of the lightning wear off.

His name?

His name was Mace Windu.


	2. Chapter 1

Former Jedi Master, Mace Windu, stumbled through the city of Coruscant. He kept the hood of his cloak over his head. Word was everywhere; The Jedi were being hunted by the former clones. The right side of his face burned in pain, like the rest of his body, only worse. It was nearly as bad as the stud of his right wrist. He kept his only hand held over his right eye, which burned with pain. He couldn't see out of it either. His left eye darted around, untrustfully.

Mace reached a building on the middle level of the city. A sign read _Crescent Star._ He knew this place. It was one of many bars on the planet. Deciding he needed to settle his nerves, he entered. He limped up to the counter and waved to the bartender.

"What can I get ya?" The man rasped.

Mace cleared his throat. "Claing juice."

"You sure?" The man asked, raising an eyebrow. "This stuff hits most people hard. Even the Jedi, you know. Probably not the best idea."

"I know." The former Jedi replied. "Grab me some anyway."

"Alright." The bartender said doubtfully. "Like I said, not a great choice."

The man grabbed a glass and a bottle, pouring some of the red drink into it. He slid the cup across the counter to Mace.

"That'll be ten credits, refills free." The bartender held out his hand.

The Jedi sighed and pulled out ten credits, dropping them into the man's hand.

"Thank you." The man pulled the hand back. "Feel free to stay as long as you'd like."

Mace grabbed the cup and took a sip of the liquid. It burned his lips and tongue, but Mace didn't care. Even when his eyes watered, he held the tears back.

"Can I have the bottle?" He asked.

"Uh, sure." The bartender handed it to him.

"Thanks." Mace responded curtly, turning and walking to a booth in the back of the building.

He slid onto the seat, all the way to the wall. He leaned back, pushing his worries away for the time being and took another sip of the drink. As the alcohol began to take hold of him, he gazed around at the people in the crowded bar. Men gambling and women flirting with them in their bikinis. He sighed and closed his eyes for a brief moment before opening them to see a woman sitting across from him.

"Hello there." She greeted.

Mace took another sip of his drink, observing her. She had olive skin that made her black hair and blue eyes stand out. She, like all of the other women, also wore a bikini. A bright red one.

"Hello." He responded, before emptying his glass. He poured more Claing juice into it. "Need something?"

"Looking for a partner for the dance floor." She jerked her thumb towards it. "Care to be the man?"

"Anytime." Mace answered after another sip.

He rose to his feet just after she did, following her to the dance floor, which was bright with neon color and loud with booming music. They stopped and she turned to face him, flipping off his hood.

She began swaying her hips in a sultry fashion, catching his attention. He put a hand on her waist and the other on her shoulder. She did the same, though her hips kept moving.

"I'm Roxy April." She finally introduced herself. "Your name?"

He didn't hesitate. "Mace Windu."

"The Jedi Master Mace Windu?" Roxy asked, sounding surprised.

Mace just nodded, not taking note of what he'd just done. "Yeah, that's me."

She flashed him a smile as they continued to dance. After awhile, he felt the drink start to slowly wear off.

"I'll be back in a minute, okay?" Roxy asked.

"Alright." Mace replied, watching her walk down a hall which he thought was to the restrooms.

He sat back in his booth, leaning back against the seat. Slowly he began to come back to his senses, realizing that his head wasn't covered. He flipped his hood back on, hoping no one had realized that he was a Jedi. A few moments later, his fear was confirmed.

A group of ten of the so called "Stormtroopers" came down the hall and walked over to his booth.

"Sir, we need you to come with us." One of them, wearing classic clone armor ordered.

"And why should I?" Mace questioned.

"Because you're under arrest." A second one aimed a gun at his head.

The others moved forward, aiming their guns as well. All, but one, who stood back. The one who stood back had a familiar blue armor with an antenna on the helmet and a shoulder pad. Mace knew he was one of the 501st Legion, but the effects of the alcohol wouldn't let him place which one it was.

"Come on, Jedi scum." A third ordered. "Want us to execute you right here?"

"You aren't executing me at all." The former Jedi Master retorted. Narrowing his eyes.

He Force-pushed all ten clones back and scrambled out of the booth. He made his way hastily through the bar. Just before he reached the exit, he turned to see the former clones pursuing him. They made it through the crowd and stood, facing him. The 501st trooper looked unsure of which side he was on, aiming his blaster at the floor.

Mace lifted them up with the Force and threw them across the bar. He hesitated, glancing around for Roxy, but she was nowhere to be seen. He turned back to the exit and began to reach for the door handle, only to hear a blaster shot and see the black mark on the wall beside him. He turned back to the clones, a deadly look in his eyes.

Nine of them fired and he held the bullets in place with all of his strength. One of them fired again and the bullet slammed into his right rib-cage. He fell to the floor just as the bullets were released and slammed into the wall.

Mace looked up in pain to see a clone standing over him. The 501st trooper.

"Sir!" He demanded, reaching out an arm to help him up. "Let's get you out of here!"

He had no choice, but to let the soldier help him up. He moved to Force-push the other nine back, but the clone shoved him back towards the door.

"Go!" He shouted. "I'll be right behind you, sir."

The clone released fire upon the others and mace opened the door, staggering through. The familiar noise of flying ships echoes through the city. He began walking away from the building, only to hear the door open behind him and uneven footsteps. He turned to see the clone who'd helped him.

"You good?" The soldier asked, limping to his side.

"Yes, thanks to you." Mace nodded. "Why did you help me?"

"I still fight for the right side, sir." He replied with a shrug. "Unlike those traitors."

"What's your number?" He asked curiously.

"Number, sir?" The 501st soldier looked at him. He shook his head. "I don't go by my number anymore. I go by a name; Rex."

Recognition soared through Mace. Skywalker's captain! Then anger overpowered the feeling of thanks. "7567? You're Skywalker's captain, aren't you? Why didn't you join him?"

"What do you mean, General?" Rex asked.

"Skywalker is a traitor." The angered Jedi told him. "You should know that, Captain."

The clone stumbled back a fet steps. "No. It-it can't be. General Skywalker would never betray the Republic!"

"Well, clone, I'm afraid that you're wrong." Mace turned away, walking over to a speeder. He climbed over the side. "By the way, I appreciate the help."

He took off, leaving the captain to stare after him in disbelief.


	3. Chapter 2

Mace parked the speeder on a small landing platform in front of a building. He saw a picture of an artificial hand in the window. Just what he needed. He climbed over the side of the speeder, dropping onto the ground.

As he began to walk towards the building, his thoughts wandered back to the woman he'd met at the bar. Roxy April. Why couldn't he stop thinking about her? He imagined what Master Yoda would say if he told him about it.

"Train yourself to let go, you must."

He remembered someone else telling him something about attachments, back when he was only a padawan. "Love is the answer to darkness."

Maybe that was why Skywalker turned on him. Maybe Palpatine promised him that he'd help save someone that he loves. Hard to tell. The boy had always been close to the darkness. He'd had anger and fear. It was bound to happen sooner or later. The betrayal.

He snapped out of his thoughts and readjusted the hood of his cloak on his head. He reached the door and opened it with his left hand. He stepped through, letting it fall shut behind him. A man looked up from behind the main desk.

"Good evening, sir." The shopkeeper greeted.

Mace gave a nod. "Evening to you too."

"What can I get you?"

He pulled the sleeve of his cloak up to reveal his severed right wrist. "A hand."

There was a quick flash of suspicion in the man's eyes, but he nodded. "Sure thing. Come this way, I need to measure the length."

"Alright." Mace responded, following the shopkeeper through a door into a back room.

The shopkeeper pointed at a wall covered in mechno-arms. "Pick one you like. I'll check on you in a minute."

The man walked back out into the main room of the shop, leaving Mace to look around. He compared his arms to one another, estimating the amount of missing arm. Then he compared his severed arm to a few of the mechno-hands. He made his decision just as the shopkeeper returned.

"Have an idea of the one you want?" The man asked patiently.

"Yes, I do." Mace pointed at it.

"Alright." He took the mechno-hand from the wall. "Follow me."

He nodded, following the shopkeeper through another door. They were in some kind of arm installing room. The man connected the mechno-hand to Mace's severed arm with some kind of a plastic brace. He took a welding tool and carefully welded the metal hand to his arm. Then he took a screwdriver and poked one of the fingers, which twitched. He poked each finger with it once, until he was sure they all worked. He took the brace off of his arm.

"Okay, make a fist." The shopkeeper ordered.

Mace balled his new hand into a tight fist and then straightened all his fingers out. "Thank you." He told the man gratefully.

"Not a problem." The man nodded.

They walked out to the main room again.

"How much do I owe you?" Mace asked.

"Fifty credits." The shopkeeper replied.

He handed the man fifty credits.

"Thank you, sir."

"No. Thank you." Mace responded.

He left the shop, happy to have two hands again.


	4. Chapter 3

Mace closed himself off from the Force so no other Sith enemy could sense him as he flew the speeder back towards the _Crescent Star_. He'd just bought new clothes to disguise himself. A regular shirt and pants. He'd even gotten new boots. The only thing he kept was his cloak.

The right side of his face still ached, but the vision in his eye had cleared up a bit. He guessed that it just needed time, like how his mind was still recovering from the betrayal of Skywalker.

He parked on the landing pad and hopped out of the speeder, hoping no one realized that it'd been stolen. He saw that the captain was gone. Must've left to see if what Mace had told him about his General was true.

Mace entered the bar and found his bottle right where he'd left it. He didn't know whether he should drink it or not. Wasn't sure if he should let himself get tricked into falling for someone. But at the same time, he wanted to do it. He thought for a moment. Then...

He did it.

Mace took a long sip from the bottle of Claing juice. He took a few more big sips before corking the bottle and putting it back on the table. His throat burned for a moment and he forced his eyes not to water. He leaned back comfortably in the seat, hearing a familiar voice.

"Hey there, handsome."

"Hello, Roxy." He forced a welcoming smile as he looked up at her.

"I was looking for you." Roxy told him, sliding into the seat beside him.

"Yeah, well, I got chased out." Mace admitted.

"I heard the shots." She told him. "Glad you came back."

"Got nowhere to go, really." He sighed. "Not safe for the Jedi anywhere." He studied his mechno-hand and shrugged. "I don't know who's dead or alive in the Order."

"What happened?" She asked curiously. "I mean, with the Senate and the Jedi?"

"We were betrayed by one of our own." He shook his head. "He learned valuable information about the Sith Lord we've been looking for. The man was right under our noses the whole time. I took a team to kill the Sith Lord, but when I was the only one left alive, Skywalker interfered. He said that he needed the Sith Lord _alive_. He cut off my hand and I got thrown out the window of the Chancellor's office. Skywalker's a traitor."

"What were you doing in the Chancellor's office?" Roxy questioned.

Mace shook his head and looked away. "Jedi business."

"Oh."

"The clones betrayed us too, from what I've heard. They've killed most of us off and are hunting us down. Nowhere is safe for those that remain. No one is safe. No Jedi, no citizen. This new Empire proves it. You just watch. Nothing will ever be the same now."

"Where are you going after this?" She asked after a few moments of not talking.

He gave a half-hearted shrug. "Might stay here in hiding, might go all the way to Tatooine in the outer rim. No, not Tatooine...I don't know, honestly. I can't take on this Empire alone. I don't have my lightsaber. I don't have any weapon."

Mace felt the alcoholic drink start to take over his body. He shifted into a more comfortable position, looking at his mechno-hand's details carefully. He couldn't feel the touch of the metal fingers to his palm like he did with his real hand, but it worked. He preferred it over nothing. He'd need it one day when he was to make his final stand against Sidious and the newly fallen Skywalker.

Suddenly, Roxy was on his lap. "Looks like someone needs a little cheering up."

Before he could ask what she meant, she had grabbed his head in her hands and pressed her lips against his. The drink had nearly taken full control of him now and he couldn't help but to watch her body like a hawk. He wrapped his hands around her, kissing her in return. His cloak fell from his shoulders. Her hands tugged on his shirt and soon it was on the floor under the table.

With realization and a sense of logic coming over him, he pulled away, shaking his head. "This isn't right. Jedi aren't supposed to have attachments."

In reply, she pulled him back into a passionate kiss and he couldn't help but to kiss her once more. She was the most beautiful human being he had ever seen. Irresistible.

Logic screamed at him, but he ignored it. _What are you doing? Has Skywalker's betrayal killed the real you?_

 _This is the real me,_ He retorted. _Just come out of hiding._


End file.
